Desk Organizer

Remember how I said that I had made several things out of the old fence boards that fell down during Hurricane Ike?  Well, I'm finally getting back to another one of those items.  Meet my new desk organizer.  I am pretty particular about my organization, and I have never been able to find the perfect desk organizer to address all of my needs perfectly.  So, I decided to make my own.  And what better material to use than beautiful old fence boards!!!  I wanted 3 horizontal slots on the right side, one for printer paper, and two others for things that need to be done (Don't mind the pile of bills sitting on the top slot in the picture).  I also wanted 2 vertical slots in the middle, one for tablets of paper and one for manila file folders.  Finally, I wanted 3 boxes on the left side, one for storing pens and pencils, one for a stapler, and one for scissors and highlighters.  So...I stripped all the fence boards in half lengthwise, cut them to the sizes I needed for each of my compartments, and then glued and nailed them together with a nail gun.  It is absolutely perfect for all my organizational needs, and I totally L.O.V.E. the rustic look of it at the same time!

Pink & Brown Necklaces

For the first time ever, I decided to make an attempt at some jewelry.  So, with some pink beads, some brown ribbon, and some clear string, I made a necklace.  My oldest daughter loved it so much that I also made her a smaller version out of my leftover materials.  Extremely simple and pretty cute.  I've got a few other jewelry ideas in my head and some materials laying around, so we'll see what else I can come up with!

Empty Space Above the Cabinets

I hate the empty space that is between the ceiling and cabinets in my kitchen.  Mostly because I just really can't find anything that looks good up there.  I've tried so many different things, looked around for any good ideas, and I just can't find anything that makes me jump for joy.  So right now, I've got a ton of plants on top of my cabinets that I made myself for really cheap, and one little art project.  I took a large beam of wood, cut it ot my desired length, and gave it a couple coats of black paint.  Then I bought pre-made letters from Michaels that spell "Bon Appetit".  I gave those a couple coats of black paint, and then hot glued them all to the beam.  Then my husband helped me lift it up on top of some of our kitchen cabinets, because it was pretty heavy.  I suppose it works until I can hopefully one day find something that makes me gasp for joy!

Rug Turned Tapestry

Our house has one of those formal dining rooms right off of the entryway.  We used to have a formal set of furniture in there, but found that we just never used that room.  Even when we had guests over, we always ate in the breakfast nook area or in the living room.  We just aren't a very formal family, we would much rather be really laid back!  So, we decided we would turn the space into something else.  Out went the old furniture and in came the new!  We raised the light fixture up, got 2 new bookcases and put an old entryway table in between.  We also put an old spare chair we had in the room for right now, but that will soon be out the door as well, and in it's place will be a new digital baby grand piano!!!  I am SO excited for that!!! Anyway, I was left with a very tall and skinny bare spot on the wall in between the two bookcases and above the table.  I tried making a series of 8 paintings and hanging them in two columns of 4, I got a tall mirror and tried hanging it there, but non of it seemed quite right.  Eventually I settled on a solution...a runner...yes, an old rug runner that we had gotten for free with an area rug we purchased from Macy's a while back.  We never had use for the runner, so it had just been sitting in storage.  I bought a 2 inch curtain rod from Lowes and wrapped the rug around the rod, sewing it together in the back to keep the heavy material from just slipping right off the rod.  Now, it looks like a wall tapestry, right?  I don't know how many people I am fooling with that thought, but I think it works quite well  :)

Stand Alone Tree

We had some trees taken down in our back yard by a tree removal company a while back in preparation for hurricane season.  The company disposed of all the trees for us, except for 1 that I had them set aside in our garage.  I let it sit there for quite some time to make sure that all the little critters would find themselves a new home in a live tree. Then, I bought a big decorative pot and a couple bags of rocks from Lowes.  I cut the tree down to the exact height that I wanted, stood it up inside the pot, and poured the rocks all around it to hold it in place.  And then it found a nice new home in my master bedroom, to fill an empty corner we had.  I love the look of it.  My bedroom is painted a sage green, the furniture is all black, the linens are all white, and the room is filled with our wedding pictures all printed in black and white.  The tree adds a touch of rustic in a very contemporary room, which I absolutely adore.

Two Boards

Well, I've finally got a chance to post!  After a busy traveling schedule over the holiday weekend and then getting things back in order at home while attending mom's group play date after play date, I actually have a spare moment (well, not really, but the laundry and vacuuming can wait a few minutes!)
 
Anyway, don't you just hate the look of a cluttered fridge, especially if it is a beautiful stainless steel one?  I most definitely do!  Yet, my oldest daughter loves her magnetic alphabet set, and she always draws mommy and daddy pretty pictures.  So I came up with a solution we both could be happy about.  I made two boards.  Sounds simple enough, right?  One is magnetic for her alphabet, and the other has ribbons on it to hold up her artistic creations.  I used old fence boards from the part of our fence that came down courtesy of a tree during Hurricane Ike (the eye went directly over our house, but fortunately we were visiting family and friends in Washington state at the time).  I just love the look of old rustic things!

To make the magnetic one, I bought a cheap dry erase board, covered it with fabric, and cut the fence boards to size (I cut each fence board in half lengthwise so that my frame wouldn't be so thick, then cut all of my joints at 45 degree angles) for the frame, securing it all with some wood glue and a nail gun.  I also used a router on the inside edge of the frame so that the board could slip into the frame, just like glass slips into a picture frame.  For the art project board, I cut a piece of cheap wood to the size I wanted, then covered that with both batting and fabric.  Then I strung ribbon vertically and horizontally across the board in a checkered pattern, and hammered in decorative tacs at each intersecting ribbon.  I then cut the fence boards to size for this frame, securing it all with some wood glue and a nail gun.  Then I used a router on the inside edge of this frame as well.  Finally, I attached two hangers to the back of each board and hung them on a large empty wall in our kitchen.  Very simple, yet I find them to be quite cute!  And my daughter just loves them!  The magnetic board is hung at the perfect height for her to enjoy playing with her alphabet while I cook dinner, and the art board is hung high enough so that no little siblings can come along and grab her masterpieces!

Now...more is soon to come about all the other great things I have made with those old fence boards!  Man I L.O.V.E. those old fence boards!

Floppy Head

 Don't you just HATE it when you are driving in the car and you look back to find your child's head flopping all over the place as they are fast asleep?!?  We've tried several different travel pillows from various stores and websites, and non of them seem to really work at keeping our 2 year old daughter's head up.  Then, the other day I saw a child with the most brilliant pillow, and I immediately had to make one for my daughter:

 

I think we finally have a solution for our floppy-head problem!

I made it from a scrap piece of fabric that I cut to 55 inches by 11 inches.  I hemmed the two 11 inch ends, then folded it right sides together hot-dog style and sewed the two 55 inch sides together.  I turned it right side out, then measured 15 inches in from one end, and sewed a straight line through all the layers (this is to hold my batting in place as I fill up the pillow).  I then stuffed the pillow with batting until it was filled up to 15 inches from the opposite end of my sewn line.  I again sewed a straight line here through all of the layers to keep my batting in place.  At each end, I simply tied a ring to the pillow, which I will use to attach to the stroller, carseat, etc. to keep the pillow in place when my daughter might be falling asleep.  However, not all strollers and carseats have something that you can attach a ring to, which is why I left 15 inches of fabric at each end.  If needed, I can just tie the fabric around something that the ring wouldn't fit around.  and the best part of all...this only took me about 15 minutes from design to finish!

*FLOPPY HEAD UPDATE*
Over the memorial day weekend, we traveled from Houston to Oklahoma, and really got to try out this new pillow.  It worked wonderfully!  My daughter loved her cool new pillow, and slept much better without her head flopping around!  We just kept it attached to her carseat like pictured above, and she could push it up and behind her seat whenever she didn't want it, but then when she started to get tired, she could just reach back and pull it back down in front of her to rest her head on.  It was perfect!

Empty Wall Filler

So, I had one big section of a wall in our entryway hallway that was empty, and it really bothered me.  On the other side of the doorway right next to this big space, I had 3 tall and skinny wall hangings, so whatever I chose to put in this empty space had to appropriately match these existing decorations.  Not wanting to go out and spend a bunch of money on some expensive wall hanging that could most likely easily be made yourself, I decided to just cut right to the chase and create something on my own.  So this is what I came up with...
With some 1 1/2 inch thick scrap lumber we had in our garage, I cut 8 squares to a size of 11 inches x 11 inches.  Then, with some 1/4 inch thick scrap pieces of wood we had, I cut 20 different sized pieces.  I stained the large squares with dark stain, and the small pieces with a lighter stain.  Then, I attached the small pieces of wood randomly to the larger pieces using hot glue.  Finally, I attached some wall hanging brackets to the back and hung them up in two columns of 4 so that they too would create a tall and skinny structure to match the other pieces.  The possible patterns and combinations with this project are endless!

       

  

  

Meatloaf for Dinner

A neighbor of mine just had a new baby boy (her second) a few weeks ago, and now that all of her out-of-town family has come and gone, it is just the 4 of them again.  While that can be quite relieving in some respects, it can also be quite stressful in others.  We, too, don't live near any family, so when my mother came to visit after the birth of our second child, she cooked up about 15 different meals and put them in my freezer.  It was SO nice to be able to pull out a home-cooked meal from the freezer and throw it in the oven on those days when things just weren't going as June Cleaverish as I would have liked them to.  I felt so accomplished, as if I had really made a nice home-cooked meal...like I totally had it ALL together when my husband got home!  Yeah right!  So anyway, I have come to realize that a home-cooked meal, one which will freeze well and still taste great later, is the best gift you could ever give a new mother.  Here's what I made for my neighbor:

Meatloaf.  This is a recipe that I concocted a year or so ago.  I took some things that I liked from different meatloaf recipes I've had before, and put them together into what my husband says is the best meatloaf he has ever had.  These are the measurements that I use, but play around with everything and see what you like best!  This will make 2 loafs, so you can give your friend one, and still have one for you and yours ;)
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground sausage
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
Onion, diced
1 slice bread, torn into pieces
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup shredded cheese (I typically just use cheddar)
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup smashed saltine crackers
1/3 cup grated carrot
2 t. parsley
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup ketchup
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 t. mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2.) Stir together the eggs, milk, bread, bread crumbs, crackers, carrots, onion, cheese, parsley, salt & pepper
3.) Mix in beef and sausage with hands, but don't overmix, just evenly distribute ingredients throughout meat
4.) Bake for 30 minutes
5.) Mix together ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and maple syrup
6.) Top meatloaf with ketchup mixture
7.) Bake an addition 30 minutes

Some recipes are good to cook before you freeze them, however the meatloaf works very well to prepare it, and then freeze it while the meat is still raw.  So in this case, don't forget to include directions with the meal so that mom knows how to bake it when she is ready!

And because I couldn't forget about dessert...
Ice cream Cake.  This is a dessert that my Aunt Tami used to always make when I was growing up, and it is still my favorite dessert today.  The version that I like best layers crushed Oreo cookies, mint chocolate chip icecream, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.  Freeze until ready to devour!

***And don't forget to put all of your prepared food into disposable containers (that are also oven-safe if need be) so that your new mom doesn't have to worry about clean-up or returning your dishes to you!***

Hopefully I'll get a chance to post a craft project or two a little later on!  Talk to you soon!
Jen

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog!  I am really looking forward to sharing many of my project ideas and recipes with you all!  I am a very busy stay-at-home mom, but I will do my best to post as often as I can.  Feel free to contact me with any questions and/or comments, I'm really looking forward to hearing from you!  I will also be starting up an etsy shop, so be on the watch for that!  Stay tuned for good things!  Thanks so much for visiting, and have a blessed day!

Jen